Epilogue:

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not know any of the workers of the WWE personally nor am I affiliated with them in any way. This story is a work of fiction and I make no profit whatsoever from it.

One Year Later

A lot had happened in a year for Seth. He'd finally been able to buy out Roman's seventy-five percent ownership of the store and after a few months of saving and hard work, he'd been able to finally sell it. It had been a sad day to see all of his hard work end but just as soon as the ink had dried on his removal from the building, there was already someone else moving in, their smiles bright and excited for their new business prospect. The last day had been the worst, trying to remain happy for what his future held but also sad for letting go of the first real thing he'd been good at.

Only two months after he'd sold 'S&R', he had packed up all his belongings and moved to the other side of the country. He'd decided that chasing the dream in California was a much happier move than being stuck in Pensacola where everything reminded him of his past. The worst thing about leaving Florida in his rear view mirror was the fact that Sami wasn't coming with him.

He and Sami had become fast friends, Sami easily filling the void that Phil had left wide open. Sami was everything that he always thought Phil was as a friend but had never amounted to. He would miss the way that Sami was, his kind heart and all the things that he did to make Seth feel like maybe he was actually worth something when he was told that he wasn't by Phil. He spent way too much of his time on the phone to Sami, just happy to hear the younger man's voice.

He'd even heard from Roman which had surprised him. One night not long after he'd moved to California, he'd randomly received a phone call at almost midnight from his Samoan ex-boyfriend where they just talked. The three hour phone call, while making him feel quite good at the time, hadn't really helped him at all. It only made him feel regret and remorse once the line had gone dead and their conversation was finished.

One of the only good things about that phone call was that Seth had found out that Roman was well and truly happy with someone else and with the life that he now had. He had tried not to feel that tiny bit jealous but he knew it was all unfounded. He had no right whatsoever to be jealous of his ex-boyfriend moving on with his life after he had ruined it completely. Roman had moved on and was quite happy with John which had surprised him quite a lot but he was pleased that the older man was now enjoying the life he worked so hard to get. The life that he should have been enjoying with him if his willpower had been a little stronger.

His own love life had began again only a month after he was finally settled completely in his new apartment right in the centre of Los Angeles. He'd been working in one of the many bars in the middle of the city to try and raise enough money to fund his own shop again when he met a handsome man named Baron Corbin.

Baron was the kind of guy who normally wouldn't have been Seth's type. He normally didn't go for the bad boy with dark, shoulder length hair and bright colourful tattoos that adorned his chest and arms but Baron was different. He'd oozed that confidence that Seth had always found so damn attractive and he also possessed the same determination that always lured Seth in. It was only his second shift at the bar when he'd met him, Baron's dark eyes meeting his brown orbs from across the room and causing electricity to shock through the entire establishment. Seth had been glad he'd given Baron a chance, their differences balancing them out in their relationship and making them a unique couple.

They'd been together only a few months when Seth had really started to invest in his dream. Invest in the real reason that he'd moved across the country. Baron had been a little skeptical at first but had supported him through the entire process in every way except for the funding. Seth had been very adamant that he wanted this to be all of his hard work with no one helping him financially. He didn't want that disaster to happen again.

It was a great feeling to know that all of his hard work was now done and today was the first day of the rest of his life. Today was the grand opening of his new men's shop.

Seth was hurriedly racing around the back of his shop when he heard the phone ring. He quickly walked to the front and grabbed the black cordless phone that was sitting on the desk next to the register. He was still slightly out of breath from pushing the heavy 'now open' sign out the front onto the warm concreted footpath. He clicked the answer button on the phone before he lifted it up to his ear. "Good morning SR, this is Seth. How can I help you?"

A heavy chuckle went down the line. "Ya know, I reckon you've done this before."

Seth let out a happy laugh. "Baron." He said sternly but he didn't mean it.

"I'm just joking baby, you know that." Baron's voice grumbled down the phone. "I just wanted to wish you a happy first day of being open and make lots of money for us."

Seth laughed again. "I'll try. Hopefully I'll get a few customer's coming in soon."

"Babe. You only just opened." Baron pointed out. "I'm sure you'll do fine. And then I'm going to take you to your favourite restaurant for dinner tonight. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great. I can't wait." Seth grinned into the phone. His ears perked up when he heard the bell ring at the door, signaling that there was someone there. "Look babe, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later. I love you."

"Love you too." Baron's voice spoke down the line before Seth hung up the phone and placed it back into the cradle.

Seth took a deep breath and turned around, ready to greet his very first customer. "Good morning and welcome to SR. How may I hel-" He was caught off guard, his heart catching right into his throat at the sight of the man in front of him. The very familiar man that he hadn't seen in just over a year. "Dean? What are you doing here?"

"I heard that you were opening a new shop so I thought I'd come check it out." Dean remarked casually with a grin. He gently touched a few of the t-shirts on one of the racks nearby while his blue eyes locked onto Seth's brown orbs. "You always did have such great clothes."

"Dean. I can't do this. I've got a boyfriend." Seth knew his excuse was weak considering their past history together.

"Yeah. I've kinda heard that line before." Dean grinned back at him.

"Dean. What are you doing here?" Seth's tone was a little more forceful this time.

Dean let out a heavy sigh. "Look, it isn't a coincidence that I'm here. Right now. Today."

Seth's brow creased. "What do you mean?"

"I went back to Florida a few months after you kicked me out of your shop." Dean started. "But I saw your shop was closed and I started to panic. It was pure coincidence that I just so happened to run into your friend Sami and he told me where you were and what you were up to." He paused for a moment. "Anyway, I came across here to find where you were now."

Seth gave him an odd look. "I still don't understand why though. You made it abundantly clear that you could never give me what I wanted."

"I could have given it to you but I was scared." Dean responded. "I wanted so badly to tell you that I could give you a chance because that's what I wanted but the words wouldn't leave my lips. I've stewed on this for twelve months, regretting how dumb I was to do what I did to you." He paused for a moment. "But I had to. Nikki was pregnant with twins and I knew I had to do what was right for me then."

Seth didn't say a word. He was stunned into silence.

"It should have been you Seth." Dean continued. "I know our time together was short but I fell in love with you. It should have been us together. Not Nikki and me. Not you and Roman. You and Me."

Seth took in a deep breath. These words said twelve months ago would have had him crawling back to Dean. He thought carefully about what he was going to say. "You had your chance to have me and you blew it. I'm sorry Dean but you're too late."

"I know." Dean let out an exasperated sigh. "But I had to let you know what my true feelings were. I had to let you know that everything that we shared together was real. It all meant the same to me as it did to you. I was just too scared to admit it."

"I don't really know what to say." Seth responded honestly. "If you were twelve months earlier, I'd be in your arms right now but you weren't. You were too late." He took a deep breath. "I fell in love with you too Dean but then you broke my heart and I don't know if I can ever forgive what you did to me."

"I understand." Dean said quietly. "Just know that you will always be the only man I will ever love and that there is always a spot in my heart for you. Goodbye Seth."

Seth didn't say a word, merely watched his ex-lover turn around and head towards the door. His heart was heavy, his throat caught. Regret was the foul taste on his tongue as Dean closed the door behind him and walked out of sight. He could have had it all.

He took a deep, soothing breath, his brown eyes closing for the longest moment. He knew he had done the right thing by pushing away Dean. Dean's words, while he could feel the passion behind them, he knew that there was no definite promise to them. Dean was now a father and Seth knew that there was no way that he could ever compete with what Nikki could give him.

He finally opened his eyes back up and wiped them with the back of his hand. He hadn't even realized that he'd been crying. He wished that he'd ran out of the door and chased Dean down but at the exact same time he didn't. He was in a happy, committed relationship now and he didn't want to let history repeat himself with more heartache. He'd done the right thing in choosing Baron.

At least that's what he'd tell himself for the rest of his life. His heart would never fully heal from the hole that the great love of his life Dean Ambrose had left in him. He was the heartless one after all.

END

A/N: so that's the end! I have had so much fun writing something that was different to what I've written before. Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favourited and followed this story! You guys have all been fantastic and I never expected to get anywhere near this amount of reviews for this story so thank you to everyone. Special thanks to Sparkles Blue, JacktheSinister JaketheJust, redsandman99, ChocolateReignz and GottaLoveReiding who reviewed every single chapter. But I appreciate every single review. I've already got my next idea for my next chaptered fic so keep your eyes open for it as well as a few one shots. Thank you all again for reading and reviewing!

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